Certificate of Acheivement!

I have been dying to blog about my latest adventure with my great friend Breck. Her love for crafting and decorating of all forms prompted her to take a cake decorating class at our local JoAnn's. I made the last minute decision to join her. We finished the last class this past Saturday. It was a great experience, and we are already planning to either take the next one or cheat and just buy the manual and try to figure it out by ourselves. I have many funny and special memories of flowers that flopped, crisco EVERYWHERE, and best of all of a fun, creative, confident, happy friend who loves life and experimenting and is not the least bit afraid to jump in and try something. We really did learn a lot. For me, I was astonished at the ammount of frosting that went into one "good looking" cake. Even more astonishing (and a little disturbing) was the amount of Crisco that goes into the frosting, and the fact that it is almost impossible to dissolve. I remember looking down into the bowl of frosting that I was washing and thinking that all those blobs of fat that wouldn't disintegrate with my hot water and soap were probably reminiscent to what my arteries might look like if I begin consuming what I create.

This picture is the top of Breck's final project. Isn't it beautiful and a great visualization of her personality.



Next is a quick picture of the person vying for President at our house. Capriel is a whirlwind of
excitement at our house right now. You can see from this picture
part of the bangs from her second hair cut, and hopefully a little of her spunk. She would like to rule the world, tell everyone what to say, what to do, where to walk, and so forth. She can sneak treats and junk food better than any of my other kids. Luckily, she has retained her "I love you" phrase that she uses many many times a day, often when there is stress or a little naughtiness going on. She is doing marvelous with her reading and beginning to take words and try to pick out their beginning sound. Her violin practices, though very brief are beginning to resemble music lessons, and her twinkle variation 1 is recognizable (the first 3 notes) We love her and are grateful for the challenge of enjoying her.


Sometimes I'm not sure Rhyse is quite as grateful!
Just kidding. They can be great friends, and Rhyse

Completely adores her. this a a picture that of I think shows what is happening at our house a lot. Capri swears that she did not do this to Rhyse. Rhyse also demands innocence, so I guess the answer will remain a mystery. Rhyse loves to draw. She opens the art drawer and spews its contents everywhere. She will get a little crayon and squat down, bend her little head over till it is only a couple of inches from the paper, floor, window, or whatever she has decided to grace with her artistic talent and carefully and seriously draw for long periods of time.

She says No very well, and often makes long lectures to the cat, or Capri or whoever else offended her that begin with vehement jibberjabber and end with a string of very expressive No's. She says, I love you, Bye, Hi, Mom (sometimes a 1000 times a day) and Da. She also says thank you and is very good at remembering it. She prefers to sit at the bar for her meals and remains a fabulous eater. You can about get her to eat anything simply by eating one yourself-followed by a yum and then offering one to her.
Some